Irish Unsigned launch

If rock music stardom is a 12 Step Program, with Step 1 being joyful Tuesday nights in the garage after work with your friends playing Zeppelin covers, and Step 12 being a drug-induced fall from the penthouse of the Chateau Marmont, we are tonight hovering around Step 3 or 4. Tonight’s audience is comprised largely of friends and family, yet each band is buoyed with the hope that they are not long for the world of Eamonn Doran’s and sundry other club venues throughout the capital.

The surprisingly named Donegal-based Blowing Up The World are up first, playing tight-as-a-gnat’s-arse, ants-in-their-pants punk rock. They’re obviously drinking from the same water supply as Berkeley. Next up are the truly wonderful Dextra. Though their lineup is a Full-Monty-esque mix of guys who look as though they’ve been pulled from the streets of Temple Bar at the last minute, their music is actually punchy scally-rock of the highest order. Think the marauding pomp-rock of Andrew WK crossed with the lowbrow antics of Mike Skinner and you’re getting there.

Uber have the unenviable task of following such inimitable revelry. Their music is low-calorie synth/goth rock, which would work perfectly within the dank and gloomy surroundings of Eamonn Doran’s if the band didn’t look so damn wholesome.

As for Label (pictured)…well, if grunge rock was the biggest and booziest party of the 90’s, Label are hair of the dog. Alas, it’s a hangover cure that arrives a little too late. While power chords will rarely go out of fashion, and Label’s music is definitely air guitar material, it has to be said that, right now, the world does not need another Bush. Ask the Americans.

Again, it is showcase nights like these that remind us of Irish music’s capacity to evolve and remain self-sufficient, without the clout of the industry which claims to wholeheartedly endorse the scene. For some or all of these bands, Step 5, if not the ledge of the Chateau Marmont, is surely within sight…